Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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116. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the establishment of a wildlife crime unit. [55183/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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While the National Parks and Wildlife service (NPWS) of my Department has and continues to work to address wildlife crime, additional resources and personnel are being made available across the NPWS to support this work. Additional rangers, who are at the forefront of this work, are now operating in locations across the country. A dedicated unit is also established – the Wildlife Crime Unit - to further coordinate and support these efforts. The Unit’s role is to  support the law enforcement work being done by the rangers and other colleagues throughout the country.

This will be done through delivery of training and disseminating best-practice guidance, and the provision of direct support to regional investigators. The Unit is and will continue to work closely with both An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners, who work to defend against international wildlife trafficking offences.

The nucleus of the new Wildlife Crime Unit has been put in place and work on securing additional staff is ongoing.